US3450591A

US3450591A - Apparatus for the labeling of bottles and other articles

Info

Publication number: US3450591A
Application number: US572411A
Authority: US
Inventors: Rudolf Zodrow
Original assignee: Jagenberg Werke AG
Current assignee: Jagenberg Werke AG
Priority date: 1965-09-17
Filing date: 1966-08-15
Publication date: 1969-06-17
Anticipated expiration: 1986-06-17
Also published as: FR1492697A; ES330157A1; US3591168A; GB1120903A

Description

June 17, 1969 ZODROW 3,450,591

APPARATUS FOR THE LABELING OF BOTTLES AND OTHER ARTICLES Filed Aug. 15. 1966 Sheet of 3 June 17, 1969 R. ZODROW 3,450,591

APPARATUS FOR THE LABELING OF BOTTLES AND OTHER ARTICLES Filed Aug. 15, 1966 Sheet 2 of 3 Fig. 2 l

v Fig.3

June 17, 1969 R. ZODROW 3,450,591 APPARATUS FOR THE LABELING OF BOTTLES AND OTHER ARTICLES Filed Aug. 15. 1966

Sheet

3 or 3 United States Patent 3,450,591 APPARATUS FOR THE LABELING OF BOTTLES AND OTHER ARTICLES Rudolf Zodrow, Dusseldorf, Germany, assignor to Jagenberg-Werke AG, Dusseldorf, Germany Filed Aug. 15, 1966, Ser. No. 572,411 Claims priority, application Germany, Sept. 17, 1965, J 29,010 Int. Cl. B65c 9/30 US. Cl. 156571 6 Claims the principle of label rotation, generally the arrangement 7 is such that the labels are withdrawn from one or more oscillating label holders or containers by means of a cylinder having adhesive segments and are applied to the articles to be labeled by means of a conveying unit interposed therebetween. Manifestly, such oscillating label holders impose a substantial limitation to the output of the machine since in the event of the oscillating movement of the label holders being too rapid the labels can no longer be held securely in the holders. In addition to the above, the label holders cannot be oscillated at any desired high speed in view of the fact that due to the constant reversal of movement and the resultant acceleration and deceleration of the holders inadmissible forces develop which result in a rapid and serious wear of the respective components. In order to increase the output of During this operation, the segments, prior to the withthe labeling machine and eliminate the problems above referred to, it has been suggested to utilize stationary label holders or containers and associate therewith suitable tools for withdrawing the labels from the holders and conveying such labels to other operative components. In one of the known apparatus there are included rotatable withdrawing members which are positioned on a rotatable support. While the entire support rotates, the withdrawing members initially roll over an adhesive or glue band and thereafter over the outermost or foremost label of the holder and pass the thus removed single label via a further rotation about their axes to a unit through which the bottles to be labeled are later moved or conveyed. However, such equipment possesses numerous disadvantages which become apparent in connection with the gluing and the removal of a single label, as well as the further movement or passage of the separated labels to a conveying means. Hence, for example, it is not possible to apply adhesive to the rotatable withdrawing members by the intermediary of a gluing roller since' such an arrangement would provide only a single line contact between the withdrawing members and the gluing roller. For this reason the known apparatus includes an adhesive band on which the withdrawing members unroll, but such a layout does not result in a uniform application of the adhesive since the contact pressure between the withdrawing members and the adhesive band varies in magnitude during the gluing.

Yet a further problem develops by the use of such withdrawing members in the further movement of the labels such as, for example, the transfer of the labels to a gripping device. For this purpose, special steps must be taken to assure that the withdrawing members which rotate continuously during the rotation of the entire support will assume a specific definite position at the transferof the labels to the gripping device. In other words, the Withdrawing members must at the proper moment be in such a position that the gripping device can grasp the forward edge of the label. Moreover, the labels to be separated must be curved inside the label holder in such a fashion that the withdrawing members can roll over the outermost or foremost label. In the case of a common type of label holder wherein the label withdrawing side is flat, only the vertical middle line of the label was contacted by the withdrawing members and, as a consequence, the label was not withdrawn.

For the above reasons, in another type of known apparatus the rotatable rollers provided for the removal of a single label and which rollers are positioned on a rotatable support, are maintained under the influence of pres-- sure springs so that such rollers can roll along the entire flat withdrawing side of the label. Aside from the relatively high construction costs involved in the above two known types of apparatus, such apparatus cannot be uti-' lized with the present-day high production machines in order to realize an unobjectionable and trouble-free labeling procedure.

A salient object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus which eliminates the above-mentioned difficulties and disadvantages existing in the art.

According to the present invention, the problems existing have been solved by the provision of segments having curved surfaces adapted to have an adhesive applied thereto and in which each segment is provided with a radius of curvature which corresponds to the shortest distance between the center of rotation of the support and the plane of withdrawal of the stack of labels. Furthermore, the

segments which are positioned rotatably upon the rotatable support roll onto the stack of labels which is located tangentially to the curved surfaces of the segments with a progressive withdrawal of the outermost or foremost label.

drawal of the outermost label, execute a swinging movement in advance of the rotational movement and upon withdrawal of the label a swinging movement following the rotational movement. In other words, the effective surfaces of thesegments by having a curvature corresponding to their rotational path are temporarily moved out of the rotational path in the zone of the stack of labels. In order to effect the swinging movement of the segments, cam control members in the nature oflevers are provided and one arm of the levers includes a toothed segment which coacts with a gear wheel positioned on the segment while the other arm includes a roller cooperable with a cam track.

Broadly, the apparatus includes a stationary holder for the labels and from which holder the labels are withdrawn individually, a rotatable supportlocated in operativerelationship to the holder, segments rotatably mounted on the support, each segment having a curved surface adapted to receive an adhesive material so that when such segment moves past the holder during rotation of the support, the outermost label in the holder is attached to the curved surface thereby being withdrawn from the holder and con-' veyed to the article to be labeled, and the radius of curvature of the surface of the segment corresponding'to the shortest distance between the axis of rotation of the support and the plane of withdrawal of each label from'the holder.

It is also possible that the segmentscould be designed as suction members, in which situation the segments would roll over the stack of labels, withdraw the outermost label, move the label past a gluing roller and thereafter apply the label to the article.

It is also possible in a situation in which labels having a thermoplastic coating are being processed, and which coating is rendered adhesive by the influence of heat, to employ a heating means in lieu of the gluing roller for activating the coating on the label.

In order to increase the output of the apparatus the invention further comprehends the employment of a conveying means for transferring the labels from the segments to the articles to be labeled, there being associated with the conveying means a plurality of rotatable supports provided with the segments and which segments alternatively transfer the labels to the conveying means.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description and annexed drawings, and in which drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of a support provided with a plurality of segments embodying the present invention,

FIGURES 29 diagrammatically illustrate the various swinging movements of a segment during the withdrawal of a label from the label holder, and

FIGURE 10 is a fragmentary top plan view of an embodiment of the invention in which two supports provided with segments are operably associated with a conveying means.

With reference to FIGURE 1, the means for removing single labels comprises a support 2 provided with segments 1 and the support 2 rotates about axis 3. Each segment 1 is mounted rotatably on the support 2 via shafts 4 and is equipped with fixed gear wheels 5.

It will further be noted that levers 6 are mounted on the support 2 and are swingable about centers of rotation 7. One arm of each lever 6 is provided with a toothed segment 8 which coacts with the gear wheel and the other arm of the lever carries a roller 9 adapted to run along a cam track 10. In order to apply an adhesive material to the curved surface of the segment 1, a gluing roller 11 to which glue or other adhesive material may be supplied by means not shown, is positioned in proper relationship to the support 2. Hence, upon rotation of the support 2 and, as a consequence, the segments 1, glue is applied to the curved surface of the segment as the segment moves past the roller 11.

Labels 12 are positioned in a stationary of fixed holder 13 located in the path of movement of the segments 1.

It will be noted that along the path of rotation of the segments 1 there is located a conveying means 15 provided with grippers 14 which apply the labels removed from the segments 1 to the articles 16 to be labeled.

In FIGURES 2-9 is illustrated the travel path of one segment during the process of removing a single label 12 from the holder 13. While normally, that is to say, during the gluing application and the transfer of the labels to the conveying means 15, the segments 1 rotate along path 17 denoted by the dot-dash lines. However, the segment is swung out from the rotational path 17 in the zone of the label holder 13 and this particular movement occurs following the application of glue to the curved surface of the segment 1 via the roller 11 by means of the coaction between the toothed segment 8 and the gear wheel 5, with the segments 8 receiving a suitable motion control by way of the roller 9 and cam track 10. During the course of the swinging movement, the segment 1, beginning with its rear edge viewed in the direction of rotation, rolls over the outermost label in the holder 13 and after the withdrawal of such label, as disclosed in FIGURE 9, again moves into its initial position wherein the curved surface coincides with the arc of the path 17. In that position, the segment 1 upon further rotation of the support 2 transfers the thus withdrawn label 12 to the grippers 14 of the conveying means 15.

Referring to the embodiment illustrated in FIGURE 10, there are provided two rotatable supports 2' provided with segments 1 and both supports 2' coact with a con veying means 15'. This particular arrangement results in an increase of the output of the machine without an increase in the speed of withdrawing single labels. It will be seen that the conveying device which is provided with six grippers 14' is supplied with labels alternatively by the supports 2' via the segments 1' and secures the labels to the articles 16' which are conducted in an upright condition past the conveying device 15' on a conveyer track or the like 18. In lieu of the conveying means 15' and grippers 14, it is possible to utilize a conveying means equipped with a suitable suction component.

The invention is not to be confined to any strict conformity to the showing in the drawings but changes or modifications may be made therein so long as such changes or modifications mark no material departure from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for applying labels to bottles and similar articles comprising a stationary holder for labels and from which holder the labels are withdrawn individually, a rotatable support located in operative relationship to the holder, segments rotatably mounted on the support, each segment having a curved surface adapted to receive an adhesive material so that when such segment moves past the holder during rotation of the support, the outermost label in the holder is attached to the curved surface thereby being withdrawn from the holder and conveyed to the article to be labeled, and the radius of curvature of the surface of the segment corresponding to the shortest distance between the axis of rotation of the support and the plane of withdrawal of each label from the holder.

2. The label applying apparatus as claimed in claim 1 including means swingably mounting each segment on the support whereby such segment rolls off on the withdrawal plane of the label holder, with such withdrawal plane being located tangentially to the curved surface of the segment.

3. The label applying apparatus as claimed in claim 2 including means for effecting a swinging movement of the segment out of the arc of rotation of the segment prior to withdrawal of a label from the holder and a swinging movement after passing the holder.

4. The label applying apparatus as claimed in claim 3 in which cam control means are provided for effecting the swinging movements of the segment.

5. The label applying apparatus as claimed in claim 4 in which said cam control means include a cam lever, a toothed segment on the cam lever and a gear wheel on the segment with which the toothed segment coacts.

6. The label applying apparatus as claimed in claim 1 further including at least two rotatable supports and a rotatable conveying means located between said two sup ports for transferring the labels from the segments to the articles to be labeled.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,703,660 3/1955 Von Hofe et al. 156571 XR 2,717,711 9/1955 Banks 156-571 XR 2,764,408 9/ 1956 Weiler 156-568 XR EARL M. BERGERT, Primary Examiner.

M. L. KATZ, Assistant Examiner.

Claims

1. AN APPARATUS FOR APPLYING LABELS TO BOTTLES AND SIMILAR ARTICLES COMPRISING A STATIONARY HOLDER FOR LABELS AND FROM WHICH HOLDER THE LABELS ARE WITHDRAWN INDIVIDUALLY, A ROTATABLE SUPPORT LOCATED IN OPERATIVE RELATIONSHIP TO THE HOLDER, SEGMENTS ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON THE SUPPORT, EACH SEGMENT HAVING A CURVED SURFACE ADAPTED TO RECEIVE AN ADHESIVE MATERIAL SO THAT WHEN SUCH SEGMENT MOVES PAST THE HOLDER DURING ROTATION OF THE SUPPORT, THE OUTERMOST LABEL IN THE HOLDER IS ATTACHED TO THE CURVED SURFACE